4th of July and the Moss family vaycay Part I

Zach's parents are here from Washington, and his younger sister Mashaela is here from Utah so we've had some fun spending time with the whole family this week. Zach and I have been pretty lucky with work so far. I did have to have my phone on me 24/7 but didn't need to be at the office on the 3rd or 4th, and Zach's been done early so he's been able to come with us to most things.

The family arrived the night of the 2nd, and the next day (Friday) we had a verrrry late start (a lot of jet lag goin on) but took an afternoon trip to the beach on Sanibel Island. We've only gone to Fort Myers beach since I've been out here, so it was a fun little trip. Here is where we had to drive:

The blue circle shows the bridge we had to take to get out to Sanibel Island. If you look closely you can see a blue dot in the same color that shows where we live.

They have some cute stores on the way out, such as:

Sanibel is renowned for seashells. We walked on piles and piles of them. It was beautiful!

Hallie and Nana with all their seashells

July 4th we had a fun day at the park, making burgers, playing frisbee and eating smores.

Yes, I also have a nephew... Hallie ALWAYS wants her picture taken so there are quite a few more of her

On the 4th of July there is an overpass that they block off and allow you to walk on to watch the fireworks, so since Fort Myers canceled their show due to budget problems, that is what we did, along with the other pest control-ers we're friends with.

Here is Chase! with the fireworks

The next day after church we took Roxy and we all went to a beach in Bonita Springs that was quite a ways away, only to find they did not allow dogs! Since it was too far to go home, we tried to sneak her in but got stopped before we even put our stuff down. We had to have our $8.00 fee refunded, and went to another beach called Lovers Key, and same problem. Then we went to a dog beach we heard about but it was DISGUSTING, we were all grossed out, and turned around before even trying to find a place to sit. After a couple hours of driving around, loading and unloading, AND Roxy throwing up in my lap in the car, we ended up right back at Fort Myers beach (where we always go). I did not take any pictures by the time we got there! After being at that dog beach we made Roxy swim in the ocean to wash off. She may or may not have been traumatized.

After getting cleaned up though we had a great dinner at Doc Ford's, this cute place right on the water. (I had key lime pie for dessert... Kenny Chesney would be so proud.)

We were fairly unsuccessful at taking any good pictures, though the night was beautiful and the moon looked awesome reflecting on the water next to the boats!

Monday Zach and I both missed another day at the beach because we had to work, but yesterday everyone went early enough that I could go before work at 3. This time we visited Naples beach. Comparatively the waves were huge and we couldn't go out very far, plus the seaweed totally grosses me out, but it was a good time and the water was a little cooler there. And let's face it... a beach is a beach, so I'm happy!

Later we came back to our pool for a BBQ dinner. This smelled even better than it looks!

Tonight Zach, Mashaela and I are driving up to Orlando after work to meet the rest of the family who is leaving today. Tomorrow Cocoa Beach, Friday Disneyworld and Saturday Sea World! I can't wait!

See more pictures here!

I'm becoming one of them

...the people who post more about their kids than they do about themselves, only I have no kids, just a dog, which I'm pretty sure is even more lame. I sort of vowed to never let that happen, but I can see how easy it is when your life is pretty much the same day in and day out, except for the accomplishments and funny doings of your baby (or dog). Well, I'm justifying it this time by saying that I now have lots of pictures to post of our puppy that I haven't had up till now. I promise to stop doing this! If you have no interest, don't read on.

This is one of my favorite pictures I've taken of Roxy. I think it sums up her life with us perfectly. A bottle of carpet cleaner, and an action blur. I laugh every time I see it.

Chewing on my phone. She can barely carry it in her mouth, but she tries.

So the other day I pulled up in front of our apartment and saw this turtle cruising across the parking lot. And he was really cruising! I jumped out of the car with Roxy right behind me and grabbed my camera. Once she saw what I was looking at she ran right up to it. Poor thing stopped in its tracks and sucked his little legs and arms inside his shell. When we walked away he took right off again. Guess he had somewhere to be.

I took some pictures of things OTHER than the puppy: as you drive towards the beach it doesn't feel like you are getting any closer, until you come up over this bridge and voila! Ocean as far as the eye can see!

We also drive past this store on our way to parking, and I keep wanting to go in. Maybe someday before we leave.

We usually walk past this hotel on the way down to the sand. I love the gingerbread look.

Back of the same hotel.

Beach.

Roxy and daddy.

Creepy brown wrinkly old drink seller guy. He rings his bell, pushes his cart and yells things about ice cold drinks. Looks like he's never done anything else a day in his life. Cool picture though.

Beach again.

Zach wished he had a yacht like this, and it reminded me of something Matthew McConaughey would be on in a movie. Doesn't it?

Baby.

She tries to play with dogs of all sizes, until she realizes they might eat her.

You can see the Florida sun has done NOTHING for us. So much for my healthy glow right? It's just too DARN HOT, and we do only have one day of leisure a week!

Bat dog.

She's listening...

Pooped on the ride home.

And here's a cute clip too.

It's time

Yes, I've been needing a new post for quite a while. As usual, I am waiting for something worth posting about that I also have pictures of, but it's become clear to me that I'll have to wait on that a little longer.



Roxy has quickly become our little baby. She's doing better on her potty training, but still doesn't know how to tell us she needs to go outside, so if we aren't watching her we still have messes to clean up. She is such a smart little girl though and VERY faithful to her mama and daddy (that could just be separation anxiety, but we like to think she just loves us a lot!) Yesterday was her first trip to the beach, I considered taking the camera but out of convenience did not. She didn't like the water but had tons of fun running on the beach and playing with the other dogs we met! Everybody that walked by commented on how adorable she is. We were quite the proud parents. :o) I still need to get a picture or video clip of her running, it's the cutest floppy-eared little thing. (I've decided I don't want her to get any bigger EVER, but we will see how much she weighs at the vet this weekend.)



Zach has been spending a lot of time in Tampa recently, working there 2 days last week and Monday thru Thursday this week. The longest we've ever been apart! It is a bummer, but he gets paid extra those days and we did have a fun weekend. We had a date at Olive Garden on Saturday and our walk on the beach Sunday evening.



I've been working on a project with Emily. She made a couple of really cute sundresses and I decided to do the same. It was finally finished for me to wear to church Sunday, but when I put it on the elastic was too big around and the halter was too long so the bust hung crooked and low. It looked ridiculous! With a little help from Zach we pinned it until it was good enough, but once I get it fixed I'll put some pictures up of my FINE handiwork. (cough) I'm faaar from a seamstress. I bought the fabric for one more so here's to hoping it will go smoother.

A new addition...

We have big news!

We're pregnant! :o)

Ok ok. That's a lie. But we DID get a puppy. :o) I'm sure I didn't fool anybody anyway!

Quite a story. Zach and I decided to get a puppy last week and spent several days looking for one. We tried to go the humane society and through adoption agencies online, etc. etc. It is so hard to get a dog these days! We saw one application that was 6 pages long!! ("Have you had any pets before, what kind, how old, what happened to them, where will you keep your pet when you're home/when you're gone, how many hours a day will the pet be left alone...") They need to call the landlord, get references, make house calls, on and on. So many hoops to jump through, we got really discouraged.

WELL... Last Saturday Zach was driving around Lehigh Acres for work and saw a guy selling puppies on the side of the road but didn't have time to stop. Sunday we decided to drive back and see if he was there again. Sure enough, Juan was there! We held some miniature pinscher puppies and they were so cute. They were smaller than what Zach wanted, but after taking into consideration our living situation we decided a small dog makes more sense. Juan was very nice but spoke limited English, and we laughed to each other when he told us she eats "Pooreenapuppyshaow" (Purina puppy chow). We were so excited to bring her home with us.

The past few days have been an experience. We felt so bad at first, she didn't play, eat or poo for 2 days and we were so worried. We haven't been able to let her out of our sight because she was so scared. Then a couple nights ago we locked her in the bathroom for about 10 minutes so we could finally have some privacy and she pooped EVERYWHERE. And thus began the potty training adventure! Since then it seems I haven't stopped cleaning up after her. When we take her outside she just doesn't get it. We bought some puppy training pads, but she tried to eat it instead and then promptly peed in the kitchen. Hmph! Any tips?

Anyway... after that long schpiel... here is our cute Roxy. (I picked the name, of course) She is 12 weeks, 4.8 lbs and a total snugglebug. She is a good girl. And sorry I don't have cuter pictures yet.

Yes, she looks like a dachsund. Contrary to popular belief, minpins are not miniature Dobermans, but are most likely a mix between Italian Greyhounds and Dachsunds. Thank you internet!

It's hard to see here but she is actually not as long as a weiner dog and isn't as big as she looks. Also minpins typically have their ears cropped but hers aren't and she is SO much cuter that way. We saw her mama with cropped ears, and we like Roxy better.

This one is hard to see I know, but the swaddling was the only way I could get her to stop whining for a couple minutes to put my makeup on.

Kiddie candids

These are two clips I took this weekend that I think are worth posting. The first one is Wyatt talking on my phone, because he is just so gosh darn cute. He actually laughs at himself when he's walking and 'talking' but I wasn't lucky enough to capture that part... still, such a little stud.

The second clip is my niece Hallie playing Wii Fit. She thinks she is REALLY good at Hula Hooping, but we think it's hilarious to watch. You can hear Zach telling her to "shake it!" in the background. Enjoy. :o)

The 'Sunshine State' strikes back

A week ago Sunday I talked to my dad on the phone and was telling him how it had only rained ONCE the entire time we'd been here. This week the heavens opened up. Every day has involved the kind of downpour where you run from the car to the front door and still get soaked. Oh the irony. We've been caught in it several times now. Emily and I went to the pool on Saturday with sunny skies, went to visit a friend in the complex and then when we left her apartment we got caught in this huge storm of wind and rain. We couldn't make it all the way home so we ran to the clubhouse and stood in the shelter of the roof for about 10 minutes until the rain let up enough to walk home. Emily chatted it up with this rude lady, while I captured the rain with my camera:






Yesterday we had to come into the office, and then make a quick stop at Costco. On the way home from Costco I had the lucky job of driving home in a TORRENTIAL downpour. It was at least as scary as a fullblown blizzard, only instead of a white-out it was a gray-out! There was so much rain I couldn't even see out the windshield with the wipers on full speed. In fact I ran over a curb. The road was flooded in spots so I kept hydroplaning, and I couldn't even tell where we were until I saw street signs! I WOULD have captured that on film if I wasn't the driver. Zach was playing Monopoly on his phone the whole time... like we weren't about to die. It was so scary. Here are some pictures of some storms rolling in last week:

At the office: {before}

{during} (my poor car)

{glorious after}



tell me that doesn't look threatening!

I like burgers, movies, and long walks on the beach.

I HAVE NO PICTURES!!! That's why I've been putting off blogging, because a blog without pictures is b o r i n g. Maybe if I warn you this way you don't have to read if you don't want! I'll post real quick anyway.

This weekend was a fun one. Friday night I spent with my sister (okay, SIL) Tashina, and Emily. We ate at Red Robin... I get THIS every time:

Although I tried to branch out, I knew I wouldn't like anything else as much, and I'd also like to note that the other girls got wraps. Not me. BURGER. Thank goodness for a metabolism. Following the delicious meal we saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

I liked it, as I do most chick flicks. Every time I see a movie with a male character who "knows it all" about women, I think of Zach, who really thinks he is Hitch. Bless his little heart. I guess I tamed the stallion!

Saturday Emily and I decided to go shopping, even though we didn't want to spend any money. It was sort of an unsuccessful trip because baby Wyatt is a little rascal and I was trying to work at the same time, through a phone and a walkie talkie. We ended up too annoyed to look around much! We did stop at Marble Slab for some expensive but tasty raspberry sorbet. Next time we'll have to go sans baby and clipboard.

Mother's Day. I am not a mother but I still got the chocolate at church! We had delicious sandwiches for lunch, courtesy of yours truly. (Mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and turkey. For some reason it is seriously a mouthwatering combination! I think it's the onions.) Later we went for a long walk on the beach at sunset... how romantic! It was really beautiful. I think the tide had just gone out and we spotted a starfish on the beach. At first when we walked by I thought it was an octopus or a squid because the tentacles were so long and skinny, but no, it was a starfish! It looked like this, except if I remember correctly it did have 8 arms:

Zach managed to flip the starfish back into the water with his sandal. Hopefully the little guy wanted to be rescued. I wished I had my camera! Silly me for letting my manager borrow it indefinitely, but hopefully I get it back before we do anything else worth blogging about.